Physics 161: Black Holes: Lecture 7: 20 Jan 2010
Professor: Kim Griest
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7.1
More Euler-Langrange plus Gravitational redshift
Conserved quanties in the Euler-Lagrange formalism: Energy and Momentum
Note that as we did the derivations of the geodesics above we came across quantities that did not change
as we traced along the affine parameter, that is we found conserved quantities. This is a general and
important thing to watch for in using the Euler-Lagrange formalism. In general there will be a conserved
quantity whenever the Lagrangian L does not depend explicitly on one of the variables. Actually there
will be one conserved quantity per variable. This is easy to see. To be general, let’s use the 4-vector
notation xµ , where x0 = t, x1 = x, x2 = y, and x3 = z, so µ runs from 0 to 3 and xµ can represent any
d ∂L
∂L
= 0, then the Euler-Lagrange equation reads: dλ
of the spacetime variables. If ∂dx
∂ ẋµ = 0. Thus along
µ
the geodesic (running over values of the affine parameter λ), the quantity ∂∂L
ẋµ is a constant.
In general we define pµ , the conjugate momentum, of a variable xµ , as
pµ =
∂L
.
∂ ẋµ
Thus we see that if the Lagrangian does not depend explicitly on a variable, then that variable’s conjugate
momentum is conserved. This pµ may be an actual momentum, but it could be some other conserved
quantity. If one takes L = 12 mẋ2 − V (x), then in fact px = mvx .
For the Minkowski metric, let’s see what these conjugate momenta are. We saw above that the metric
did not depend explicitly on any of the xµ ; t,x, y, or z, thus we expect to have 4 conserved quantities.
= ṫ. Likewise for the x
Consider the t equation with affine parameter proper time τ . We have pt = ∂L
∂ ṫ
equation we find px = ẋ, py = ẏ, etc. During the above calculation we found that this constant for the
Euler-Lagrange equations (which we called ct ) was equal to the Lorentz factor γ. Thus we see that
p0 = pt = γ = E/m,
where we noticed that in special relativity the energy of a particle is E = mγ, where m is the rest mass.
Thus the conserved quantity associated with the t variable is nothing other than the energy. (It is energy
per unit mass actually, but since γ is a constant we can multiply by another constant m and still have a
constant.)
We also previously found the momentum conjugate to the x variable, px = ∂L
∂ ẋ = ẋ = cx . Using
cx /ct = v from before, we have px = vx ct = vx pt = vx γ. But in special relativity the momentum is just
mvγ, so see that px = Px /m, is the momentum per unit mass. (We call the actual momentum P to
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distinguish it from the momentum per unit mass.) Thus the 4 conserved quantities we discovered are
just the energy and 3 components of momentum.
p We can find the relation between these quantities from our definition of the Lagrangian: L = 1 =
ṫ2 − ẋ2 − ẏ 2 − ż 2 . Substituting in pt = ṫ = E/m, px = ẋ = PX /m, etc. we find
q
1 = (E/m)2 − (Px /m)2 − (Py /m)2 − (Py /m)2 .
Squaring, multiplying through by m2 , and using P 2 = Px2 + Py2 + Pz2 , we find the well known result
E 2 = P 2 + m2 . Finally using units to put back the c’s, E 2 = P 2 c2 + mc4 , which reduces to the famous
E = mc2 in the limit of zero velocity (zero momentum).
7.2
Gravitational Redshift from the Schwarzschild metric
We already discussed the curvature of time in the Schwarzschild metric. Clocks run slower in a gravitation
field (at smaller values of r). This is one of the more measurable effects of GR. Measurements are possible
because atomic transitions act like small clocks which send messengers (photons) to us here at Earth.
Recall the proper time in the Schwarzschild metric:
r
2GM
,
dτ = dt 1 −
rc2
where dτ is tick of a clock measured at r, and dt is the length of that same tick measured far away
(r → ∞).
Now consider some atomic transition, for example, the n = 3 to n = 2 transition of atomic Hydrogen.
This is called the H-alpha transition and results in emission of a photon with energy Eγ = 13.6eV( 312 −
1
22 ) = 1.89 eV. Using λ = c/ν, and Eγ = hν, we find the corresponding wavelength Hα : 6563.5
Angstroms. Now in the frame at r, the photon has a fixed frequency ν0 , and each oscillation is like a
little clock ticking with period dτ0 = 1/ν0 . Thus the time between crests in the outgoing photon measures
dτ . That same photon travels
p out to us at r = ∞. Then that same period is observed as dt. Thus the
dτ∞ ≡ dτobs = dt = dτ0 / 1 − 2GM/rc2 is longer. Using the definitions above of ν and λ we see that
the frequency decreases by the same factor and the more easily observed wavelength is longer at when
observed at infinity than the emitted wavelength at r by
λ0
λ0
= p
λobs = q
2GM
1
−
1 − rc2
rs
r
,
where we used the definition of the Schwarzschild radius rS .
The redshift of an emission line is defined as
z=
λobs − λ0
rS
∆λ
=
= (1 − )−1/2 − 1,
λ0
λ0
r
where λ0 is the emitted wavelength in the rest frame of the atom. Note for small values of 2GM/rc2 =
rS /r, this expression can be Taylor expanded as z ≈ GM/rc2 = 12 rS /r.
This gravitational redshift is totally different from either the normal Doppler shift redshift caused by
an atom moving away from the observer, or the cosmological redshift caused by the expanding Universe.
Let’s see how big the effect is by calculating it for some typical astronomical objects. First how about
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emission from the surface of the Sun? We expect the wavelengths recieved by us on Earth to be longer
than the emitted wavelengths since the emitted photons have to climb out of the potential well of the
Sun where clocks run slower. Using the approximation above z⊙ ≈ 12 3km/7 × 105 km ≈ 2 × 10−6 . This
is not a very big effect; a clock on the surface of the Sun loses about 30 seconds/year. For H-alpha the
line redshift would be only 0.013 Angstroms.
How about for a white dwarf star? The mass of a white dwarf is about 0.6M⊙ , and the radius is about
5500 km, near to the Earth radius. Thus z ≈ 21 (.6)(3km)/5500km ≈ 1.6 × 10−4, and the wavelength of Halpha emission recieved on Earth would be 6563.5(1 + z) = 6564.6 Angstroms, quite easily distinguishable
from local H-alpha lines. This result agrees well with the measurements from the nearby white dwarf
star Sirius B. A clock on the surface of Sirius B would lose about 0.6 second/hour.
Next consider the case of a neutron star, with M = 1.4M⊙ and R = 10 km. Now we really should
not use the approximation, but calculate z = [1 − (1.4)(3km/10km)]−1/2 − 1 = 0.313. This is big shift:
the H-alpha line would appear at 8618.2 Angstroms and clocks would run 31% slower.
Finally what about light emitted from the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole? With r = rS ,
z → ∞! Light would be invisible since it would be redshifted to infinitely low energies. Clocks sitting at
that location would appear to have stopped!
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